Monthly Archives: June 2014

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company’s economic output. That’s because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings’ unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight....More>>>

Last quarter, Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) earnings beat and cash givebacks weren’t enough to overcome dour guidance. The stock closed the day down more than 20% year to date and underperforming the S&P 500 by nearly twice that.

But now Apple stock is rallying about 4% after-hours. Why? The Mac maker reported $7.47 a share in profits on $35.3 billion in revenue, soundly....More>>>

When megainsurance company MetLife (NYSE: MET ) finally closed the sale of its retail banking operations to General Electric’s (NYSE: GE ) GE Capital this past January, enabling it to deregister as a bank, it likely heaved a figurative sigh of relief. The insurer had jumped through many regulatory hoops in order to get this deal done and free itself of tighter controls....More>>>

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL ) will release its quarterly report next Monday, and judging from the stock’s gains over the past year, investors are convinced that the company has fully recovered from the Gulf oil spill tragedy three years ago. Yet the question remains whether the Halliburton earnings report will show the growth that investors need to see to justify their optimism.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) was trading 24 points higher, or 0.15%, by midafternoon after the Federal Reserve announced that 29 of the largest 30 U.S. banks had the capital cushions to survive a severely adverse economic scenario.

Let’s zoom in on the automotive industry today after the sector started off 2014 a little slower than anticipated due....More>>>

Tropical Storm Humberto has formed off the coast of Africa, and the formation is earlier than most storms. This storm is also projected to become a hurricane. The good news for the United States is that this is projected to move mostly northward in the Atlantic Ocean. If that occurs, then TS Humberto or Hurricane Humberto is expected to not pose a severe risk to the United States.

Sales improved 6% year over year to $508 million, yielding a $0.02 net profit per share. Analysts were looking for $484 million and a $0.01 loss per share, and management raised next-quarter revenue guidance well above Wall Street’s....More>>>

The Federal Reserve was poised to be front and center this week, as it prepares for its Federal Open Market Committee meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, out of the blue, former Bill Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew his name from the short list of those under consideration to be the next Chair of the Federal Reserve.

In 2012, the market got excited about the potential for corporations to consolidate the fragmented single-family home market.

A company such as Silver Bay Realty Trust (NYSE: SBY ) could buy the houses on the cheap, and in the process, develop a national brand that renters could have confidence in using for rentals in most major metro areas. Not to mention that operating as a....More>>>

Each week, I endeavor to report the results of the Big Idea Portfolio, a collection of five tech stocks that I believe will crush the market over a three-year period. I’ve done it before; my last tussle with Mr. Market ended with me beating the index’s average return by 13.35%.

Real money was on the line then as it is now, which means any one of the five stocks you see below could....More>>>

Tesla (TSLA) reported a wider than expected loss Wednesday after the bell, the biggest in the companys history. Teslas net loss for the quarter amounted to roughly $718 million, a considerable $4.22 cents a share.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG) is one of 20 publicly-traded companies in the “Automotive dealers & gasoline service stations” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Penske Automotive Group to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, v

Red Rock Resorts Inc (NASDAQ:RRR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 1,886 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the average volume of 166 put options.